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Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 8:13 am

by Escoreal

Ok, so let me start off by saying that Fury Road is without a doubt one of the most captivating stories I've ever had the joy so experience on film and that I loved every minute of it. Four months after it's release I'm still pondering on a lot of the symbolism and character relationships and their interactions with one another. One that I've been dwelling on a lot and especially since watching the leaked deleted scenes of the movie is the relation between Splendid and Immortan Joe which I think deserves to be talked about in it's own topic.

Let me be clear about that I am not in any shape or form condoning or excusing slavery, rape, abusive relationships or anything of the sort. Nor am I disagreeing with any statements stating that either of those things are morally reprehensible and what else pro-freedom and pro-individuality that has been discussed since the dawn of time. I'm simply trying to widen the perspectives of their relationship and their story arcs - in particular that of the Immortan which by the way, is a great nuanced antagonist and my personal favorite character.

So here we go:

The impression I got after watching the movie several times, is that Splendid absolutely despises Joe while he himself feels a strong affection towards her person.

This sort of affection might not be what most of us would call love but more like a devotion one might have to a favorite pet which sets Splendid apart from the other wives in Joe's harem. Throughout the movie we see the Immortan continuously expressing concern over Splendid safety, mainly during the scene in which Splendid almost crashes into a rock and we know she had if Joe hadn't warned her of it, followed by him risking both his and his own sons life trying to not run over Splendid after she fall from the War-Rig directly onto the Bigfoots path. After her death we see him emotionally breaking down upon realizing she is most likely going to die due to the injuries sustained during the accident.

Now most people are going to argue: "The only reason he cared for her was because she was pregnant with his heir" - Is this really true through? *He had no idea whether or not the child was a male or if it was even healthy before the performed C-section, so why risk your own life for it knowing that his three previous attempts had all resulted in failures (Corpus, Rictus and Scrotus)??*When Joe opens the vault for the first time in the events of the movie and finds that the wives are gone he calls out for Splendid, and only for Splendid Angharad, his favorite. The Dag was also pregnant which must have been known to him since the Organic Mechanic was in charge of supervising all health-related issues of the citadel. If he truly only cared about heirs then he would also have called out for The Dag during that scene.* When the Warband is camping before spotting the War Rig heading back towards the citadel Joe is humming a quiet tune that I interpret as mourning or an elegy of sorts in honor or Splendid.

These are my arguments towards my belief in that Immortan Joe in fact is capable of feeling an exclusive affection towards a woman and that it is an important layer of his character. In the opening scene it states that "As the world feel, each of us in our own way was broken." Through the course of the movie every main character is an empty shell of their own selves but ends up regaining a bit of their humanity: Nux manages to genuinely connect to a real human being instead of a fictive religion, Max forms a bond with Furiosa and slowly turns from beast into man and Furiosa herself learns to trust in other people. Etc. So Joe's minimal recovery of humanity would, in my mind, be to have the capability feel exclusive affection towards someone despite the extreme measurements that had to be taken to ensure the birth of a healthy heir in a toxic world.

HOWEVER****

During one of the deleted scenes that were recently leaked and that can be found active here: https://movielala.com/movies/mad-max-fu ... -explosion, we witness a rather shockingly appalling display that I feel completely goes against all the hints and clues towards my previous points about Joe actually caring about Splendid and also it goes against his character arc; After the C-section her dead body is simply dumped in the desert and left to be eaten by the crows...

Why did the movie go through all the bother of separating Joe's feelings towards Splendid and the baby only to later show how he carelessly discarded of her dead body. Shouldn't he have cared enough about her to at least bother with a proper funeral??

I'm curious to see if anyone else saw the clues that I've just written about and even if anyone else reacted similarly to the deleted scene.

Please, post your opinion, I'm dying to discuss this with all you Mad Max Lovers out there!!

Re: Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 11:35 am

by AquaCola

As much as Joe's actions make it look like he loves Splendid I get the feeling she's just a vessel for his child especially when he sees her and says ""Thats my child, my property", in the trailer there is a cut line "I want them back, they're my property", maybe there is some parts missing from the film that would answer your questions better.

Re: Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 1:12 pm

by Escoreal

AquaCola wrote:As much as Joe's actions make it look like he loves Splendid I get the feeling she's just a vessel for his child especially when he sees her and says ""Thats my child, my property", in the trailer there is a cut line "I want them back, they're my property", maybe there is some parts missing from the film that would answer your questions better.

I also believed that to be true during my first view. He does clearly state that he sees humans as possessions however what I meant is that he sees Splendid as just a little bit more than that. He does separate her from the baby for reasons i explained above. Remember that Joe is broken like everyone else but a little bit of humanity shines through with this confused affectionate feelings towards Splendid. Just my opinions anyway.

Re: Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 3:43 pm

by roadwarriormfp

Immorton Joes character uses the same mentality of an abusive male partner, that is quite clear and plain.

George Miller employed feminist Even Ensler to consult on set, to help portray the mindset. This worked both ways..

Joe doesnt love them, they are all possessions. In a violent relationship the person often says to their partner "I love you" but if you step out of line ill beat you up ."Battered wife syndrome" occurs when the female thinks to herself... "I make him beat me" "He loves me" etc... but its always through manipulation (and low self esteem) that the husband manages to control her. Has nothing to do about love.

Re: Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 4:35 pm

by Escoreal

roadwarriormfp wrote:Immorton Joes character uses the same mentality of an abusive male partner, that is quite clear and plain.

George Miller employed feminist Even Ensler to consult on set, to help portray the mindset. This worked both ways..

Joe doesnt love them, they are all possessions. In a violent relationship the person often says to their partner "I love you" but if you step out of line ill beat you up ."Battered wife syndrome" occurs when the female thinks to herself... "I make him beat me" "He loves me" etc... but its always through manipulation (and low self esteem) that the husband manages to control her. Has nothing to do about love.

Yes, it definitely is an abusive relationship. That's why I was careful to not call it love. My point though was that Joe definitely treats Splendid differently than the other wives which I thought was an interesting trait to his character since every wife is equally capable of bearing him children. Why put her on a pedestal at all in this case?

Re: Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 10:59 pm

by Turbofurball

Her name is Splendid, she was his "favourite" ... I just imagined that in the same way as, say, a collector of anime figurines might have a favourite and would get exceptionally upset if that was broken (and irreplaceable).

Miller's baddies are multi-dimensional, and in real life no person is 100% a dick, so it's a possibility.

Re: Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 11:15 pm

by levcore

His wives are his treasures, they're just another thing he has that no one else does. Splendid Angharad is his favourite, simple as that. Maybe he finds her the most attractive, or kids himself that they share some kind of special bond. Of course the fact that she is heavily pregnant with his child is a major factor. Angharad translates as 'much loved one'. She is his number 1 and whilst he is upset at her death, i think this is mainly due to the baby. When the organic mechanic is saying that she's breathign her last, Joe really doesn't seem to care too much about Splendid, only the baby. He is not fussed about Splendid's final moments, which to me says that whilst she was his favourite, he got over it quite quickly.

Re: Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 11:04 am

by AquaCola

^True, the hasty C-Section would be proof he is only caring about the baby.

Also notice how she has scars on her forehead as if she was slapped around.

Re: Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:54 am

by Turbofurball

AquaCola wrote:^True, the hasty C-Section would be proof he is only caring about the baby.

Also notice how she has scars on her forehead as if she was slapped around.

Those scars are more consistent with self-harming.

Re: Immortan Joe's relationship with the Splendid Angharad

Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 12:47 pm

by KamicrazyWarGal

Compelling analysis! It's possible the Immortan may have just been motivated by wanting to be a father and be part of a family, but those inclinations were warped by collapsing society, driving him to lead his gang of war boys as like a crazy version of masculine instinct to protect and provide. The religion he founded just served to deform his view even more, as he was treated like a god. In Joe's mind the ideal "loving wife and healthy kids" was perverted and became "beautiful subservient concubine and worthy male heir".

On a related note to some things being discussed, I don't think it's implied the Immortan Joe actually physically abused/beat the wives, based on what Cheedo said, "He gave us the high life, what's wrong with that!".